The CFL is back, and we’re looking at a team a day leading up to regular-season kickoff on June 23. Today, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The 2016 season could easily have been a victory lap for Zach Collaros. Instead, Hamilton Tiger-Cats fans just want to see him make it through the year without a limp.
Collaros was rocketing toward a Most Outstanding Player award last year when, after torching the league all summer, he tore his ACL in a Week 13 loss to the eventual Grey Cup–champion Edmonton Eskimos. The injury marked the second time in as many seasons with Hamilton that Collaros missed significant time for health reasons, following a 2014 campaign in which he was absent six games because of a concussion.
That—and the fact Collaros still hasn’t fully healed from his knee injury and won’t be ready for Week 1—is the bad news.
The good news is, when under centre, Collaros has proven to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league and the largest single reason the Tabbies are more than a few peoples’ pick to win the Grey Cup this year.
| Team outlook | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
|---|---|
| 2015 record | 10-8 (2nd in East) |
| Incoming players | Alex Hoffman-Ellis (LB), Chad Owens (WR), Brian Simmons (OL), Demond Washington (DB) |
| Outgoing players | Justin Medlock (K/P), Mike Edem (S), Ed Gainey (CB), Brian Bulcke (DT) |
When he hit the turf last September at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field, Collaros led the league in passing yards, touchdowns and boasted the best passer rating with a mark of 113.7. Including the game he was hurt, the Tiger-Cats went 2-5 without their signal-caller, losing the East final to the Ottawa Redblacks.
The hope in Hamilton now is that, when completely healthy, Collaros can pick up where he left off and make good on the promise both he and the club have shown in the recent past. Head coach Kent Austin, a former CFL quarterback himself, says that position more than any other requires game experience to make gains. Collaros, however, has been able to absorb information and learn about his craft despite the fact he’s spent large swaths of time on the sideline.
“Where he’s really surprised me is, with the lack of playing time, being able to still grow,” says Austin.
Austin, who declined to offer a timeline for Collaros’s return, said he’s not concerned about the fact the 27-year-old has had trouble staying on the field. As a football lifer, Austin knows the tide can turn quickly.
“I’ve seen it before,” he says. “You get a couple bad breaks, then that player moves on and never gets hurt again for several years. I’m not worried about it.”
What opponents are surely fretting is a scenario where Collaros, an Ohio boy who played his college ball at Cincinnati, gets back on the field and resumes dominating the league. Austin has a clear checklist of attributes he wants from the player who mans the most important position on the field, and Collaros ticks all the boxes.
“The No. 1 thing we focus on for the quarterback is he has to be a great decision-maker,” says Austin. “Second, he’s got to be an accurate passer in all situations. Thirdly, he’s got to be tough. Mentally and physically tough.”
More 2016 CFL season previews: BC Lions; Calgary Stampeders; Edmonton Eskimos; Saskatchewan Roughriders; Winnipeg Blue Bombers; Toronto Argonauts; Ottawa Redblacks; keep checking back for more as the regular season approaches
Assuming Collaros, who began his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts before signing as a free agent with the Ticats in 2014, can rediscover his groove, Hamilton will be in the thick of the championship chase. During Collaros’s first year with the club, the Tiger-Cats went all the way to the Grey Cup, losing to the Calgary Stampeders. The year prior, Hamilton dropped the 2013 championship game to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
From an outside perspective, it seems there’s only one last hurdle for this talented club to clear, though Austin says the team doesn’t view it that way. Instead, it’s simply a new year and business as usual for Austin, who believes winning is the only reason to pick up a ball and put on your helmet in the first place.
“There really is no other goal that’s worth our time and energy and effort,” he says.
Assisting Hamilton in that pursuit is the fact a core of key players—including Collaros’s favourite target, wide receiver Luke Tasker—have now been with the team for a couple seasons.
“We’ve had a great deal of continuity here that’s helped us,” says Austin.
Now, all the Tabbies need is for Collaros’s injury luck to turn. If that happens, the rest of the CFL may be powerless to stop the onslaught.